It has been quite a week in the NFL for us at this website.
The Seattle Seahawks defeated a team named after...get this...an actual bird. In so doing, our Men of the Puget Sound exhibited complete dominance except during the third quarter of the game. In a moment of hubris, they let their guard down and allowed the Atlanta Falcons to score 21 points. One correspondent to this website exclaimed that the Hawks were "seriously" cursed while watching this nadir of the Hawks defensive play. Under the Supreme #3, they came back, however, and snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. The Righteous #25 stopped a Julio reception on 4th down in the fourth quarter to end the game and carry the team onward toward tactical dominance.
Tactical. Tactical dominance. But was it moral?
On that fateful play, Our Righteous #25 committed a blatant pass interference which the ref either did not see, or failed to call. In either case, it would seem that the Seattle Seahawks were not completely responsible for the outcome of the game. This, for a moment, caused us here to question the morality of this victory. We have, however, come to a conclusion. We still cling to our the belief in our chosen team's moral superiority while bravely facing the dissonance we have been faced with.
First, a causal argument: Let us suppose that the pass interference had been called. At that point, the Hawks would have faced a fired up Falcons team deep in their territory. It was the 4th quarter and the Seattle D knew this was their last stand. They would have pummeled their opponents mercilessly. Who is to say that they would not have intercepted the ball for a pick-6? Who is to say that the Hawks would not have blocked a field goal attempt? Who is to say that the Falcons' kicker would not have missed the FG in the end anyway? We saw this while playing a team named after murderous Norse killers last season, after all. All this being said, it is an open question as to whether or not the Falcons would have come back for the win. We are now left with only the result on the scoreboard and in the end, the Seattle Seahawks scored more points. The tactical victory here, regardless of the missed call, stands as a brute fact and counterfactuals can only be bandied back and forth ad nauseam. Let us just consider it payback for 2012-2013.
Second, an argument from symbolism: Consider for a moment the names of the two football teams. The Seattle Seahawks are named after a bird that doesn't quite exist. We have heard that a "Seahawk" is actually an osprey, a bird of prey; unchained, unfettered, unmastered by any human hand. Now, let us train our gaze on the Atlanta Falcons, a team named after a completely different kind of bird. Falcons are hunters, just like osprey. Falcons, though, are fettered, chained, used as instruments by human beings to hunt rabbits in the steppes. They are subjugated by being made to wear little hoods on their heads. We ask you, dear reader, to draw your own conclusion: which is the more inspiring symbol? The choice is stark. We have a choice between a free creature and a tool. At this site, our choice will always, and only, be on the side of freedom. Since freedom is better, in a moral sense, for sentient beings than being a tool, the Seattle Seahawks are better than the Atlanta Falcons, not just in an ontological or tactical sense, but in a moral sense as well.
We are saddened by The New York Jets, who were eviscerated by a team named after, yet another, actual bird.
These early days of the 16-17 season are truly dark for our Jets. Perhaps we should, in the words of Michael Scott, sacrifice an animal to some weird creature to ask for reprieve?
We believe in you, O Jets. In our pain, we believe.
Next football games:
Seattle Seahawks @ Arizona Cardinals 10/23/2016, 1730 PDT.
New York Jets host Baltimore Ravens 10/23/2016 1000 PDT.
Many teams are named after birds in the NFL.
Standings:
Seattle Seahawks 4-1, First in the NFC West.
New York Jets, 1-5, Fourth in the AFC East.
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